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JICDev
JICDev

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How to Configure NGINX, and Host Your Local Website on Ubuntu Installed on VMware

#ubunt #devop #cloud #nginx

Introduction

This guide walks through my full journey of:

  • Enabling copy-paste and VMware Tools
  • Installing and configuring NGINX
  • Hosting a local HTML website
  • Fixing common Linux/VMware errors

Every problem I faced is documented, including why it happened and how to fix it.

You can follow this tutorial even as a complete beginner.

1. Installing Ubuntu on VMware

After downloading the Ubuntu ISO and creating a new VMware virtual machine, the installation completed successfully.

However, I immediately noticed something was wrong:

  • Copy/paste did not work from Windows → Ubuntu neither from Ubuntu → Windows

This usually means VMware Tools is missing or not properly installed.

2. Installing and Verifying VMware Tools

Run

sudo apt update
sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop -y
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To first update your VM and then install the tools.

Then I rebooted the VM with

sudo reboot
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To check if VMware Tools was installed, I ran:

vmware-toolbox-cmd -v
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Correct output (after installation) 

12.5.0.51152 (build-24276846)
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What happened initially

At first, copy/paste only worked in one direction. This confirmed that VMware Tools needed to be installed.

Fix

From VMware:

VM → Install VMware Tools
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Ubuntu mounted the VMware Tools installer. After installation and a reboot, two-way copy/paste worked correctly.

Why VMware Tools matters

  • Enables clipboard sharing
  • Enables drag-and-drop
  • Improves display resolution
  • Improves VM performance

3. Installing NGINX

Before installation, I updated Ubuntu:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
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Then installed NGINX:

sudo apt install nginx -y
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Check the installed version:

nginx -v
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Start NGINX:

sudo systemctl start nginx
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Enable at boot:

sudo systemctl enable nginx
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At this point, visiting the VM IP address in a browser should show the default NGINX welcome page.

4. Hosting a Local Website with NGINX

I decided to host a simple website from this directory:

/var/www/myresume
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Creating the directory 

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/myresume
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Assigning permissions 

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/myresume
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Creating the HTML File 

nano /var/www/myresume/index.html
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You would notice in the image above I imputed it all together! Linux terminal allows you run multiple commands at a time.

Inside the file "nano /var/www/myresume/index.html":

<h1>My Resume Website</h1>
<p>Hosted locally on Ubuntu using NGINX.</p>
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You could use whatever website template you have available or prefer. This sould be imputed in the editor
Save and exit:

  • CTRL + O = save
  • ENTER = save name
  • CTRL + X = exit

Important Mistake I Made

At first, I accidentally typed:

/var/www/myreusme
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Because of this typo, NGINX could not find the correct directory and displayed:

404 Not Found
nginx/1.24.0 (Ubuntu)
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I confirmed the issue with:

ls -l /var/www/myresume
ls -l /var/www/myreusme
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The second path did not exist, confirming the error.

Fixing the directory name resolved the issue.

5. Configuring NGINX to Serve the Website

Create a server block:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/myresume
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Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;

    root /var/www/myresume;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}
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Enable the site:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/myresume /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
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Test configuration:

sudo nginx -t
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Reload NGINX:

sudo systemctl reload nginx
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6. Testing the Website

Get the VM IP address: 

ip a
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Mine was:

192.168.107.13?
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Test in browser: 

http://192.168.107.13?
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It loaded correctly.

7. Real Errors I Encountered (And How I Fixed Them)

Error: 404 Not Found

Cause:
Incorrect directory name due to a typo (myreusme instead of myresume).

Fix:
Corrected the folder name and HTML file path.

Error: curl not found

When testing:

curl http://192.168.107.13?
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I got:

Command 'curl' not found
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Fix:

sudo apt install curl -y
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Warning: NGINX config changed on disk 

Warning: The unit file or drop-ins changed on disk
Run 'systemctl daemon-reload'
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Fix:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart nginx
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8. Final Verification

Browser test: success
curl test: success
Nginx reload: success
VM tools: fully working

The website was now being served perfectly from NGINX.

Conclusion

In this project, I learned:

  • How to install Ubuntu on VMware
  • How to verify and install VMware Tools
  • How to install and manage NGINX
  • How to host a website locally
  • How to debug directory issues, missing tools, and configuration errors

By documenting all the mistakes I made, I hope this guide saves others time and frustration.

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